Agreed, except Brave is a closed source wrapper for Chromium and you can't be sure if it's really as safe and private as they say. Also, it's married to a cryptocurrency scheme and that alone is reason to stay away.
Thanks, I wasn't aware they had finally produced source code with an open source license for the wrapper code. Still, I don't see anything on their Github about the servers that run the backend of their ad-serving and cryptomining services. Until I see otherwise I'll assume that is closed and proprietary and that all browsing activity is monitored, logged, and monetized per their advertising model.
I think the mindset that crypto = stay away when looking at Brave is silly. The idea is novel, they have a working product, and IMO they really aren't "locked in" to crypto. I imagine they could pretty easily transition the ad payouts, tipping, and auto-contribution features from BAT to traditional currency. Building the platform around BAT to start just allowed them to cash in on an ICO at the peak of the craze.
If they aren't opted in to the program then you're not giving them anything. As far as I know Brave is still accepting tips on behalf of people even if they're not opted in. Also, these tips are in an altcoin that Brave created and not the currency of the content creators.
Everyone I tip to is verified. And the BAT sits in an address until that creator does verify. And yeah of course the tips are in BAT, the whole point is to increase the value of the network. Also, people are donating BAT that they've gotten from ads. No one is tipping people with BAT that they've bought with their own money as far as I'm aware.
>And the BAT sits in an address until that creator does verify.
To my point - you're not tipping the content creator at all until they claim (edit: although as you say, tipping to verified does tip them). Also, these tips that are done with BAT that came with the promotion of Brave is sent back to Brave if they remained unclaimed for a set amount of time. Seeing as Brave has complete control of the tips they can change the rules and take the BAT back at any time.
>the whole point is to increase the value of the network.
This is kind of a pain point, isn't it? Many content creators have established ways to donate (Patreon, Twitch built in methods, Paypal, etc). Why should they opt-in to an altcoin created by Brave? There's no incentive for content creators to "increase the value of the network."
>Also, these tips that are done with BAT that came with the promotion of Brave is sent back to Brave if they remained unclaimed for a set amount of time. Seeing as Brave has complete control of the tips they can change the rules and take the BAT back at any time.
That's true for unclaimed tips. I don't believe they have any control if someone is verified, but I could be wrong.
>This is kind of a pain point, isn't it? Many content creators have established ways to donate (Patreon, Twitch built in methods, Paypal, etc). Why should they opt-in to an altcoin created by Brave? There's no incentive for content creators to "increase the value of the network."
I'd imagine the incentive to grow the network would be more tips through Brave. I don't donate through patreon or paypal since I find that to be a personal pain point. But I will be using Brave. I'd imagine there are others like me.
